-a food blog by K.P. Wee, author of "The 1988 Dodgers: Reliving the Championship Season," "John Cangelosi: The Improbable Baseball Journey of the Undersized Kid from Nowhere to World Series Champion," and "Tom Candiotti: A Life of Knuckleballs"

N.O. and I hung out in New Westminster one Saturday afternoon in December, and we had lunch at the Browns Socialhouse Brewery District on Columbia Street.

The New England Patriots-Buffalo Bills NFL game was on too, so we sat at the bar area to have our lunch and catch a bit of the game.

N.O. ordered a side of Loaded Nachos, …

… while I had the Korean Fried Chicken.

The chicken was a tad spicy, which was perfect.

One funny moment happened when the server at the bar took my empty glass to give me a Coke refill, except she brought the refill to the other side of the bar and gave it to another guest! It was quite amusing and we all had a few laughs over it.

On a Friday evening recently, I stopped by the nearby Sushi Royal House Japanese Restaurant on Grandview Hwy and Renfrew Street in East Vancouver.

I specifically wanted the Gamja Tang (pork back bone with vegetable hot pot), and ordered that, along with the Ika Karaage. The Gamja Tang was from their “Korean Dinner Special” menu, which was available from 3pm.

The waitress took the order, but came back a few minutes later to tell me that the Gamja Tang wasn’t available. Apparently, according to her, the restaurant was busy and didnt’ have that dish available; the wait would be an hour and she recommended that I ordered something else. (It was 5pm at the time and there were two other tables occupied at that moment, but I presume she meant it was busy earlier.)

So, I ordered the Jeyuk Bokkeum (spicy stir fried pork with rice) instead. As mentioned, I’d specifically wanted the pork bone hot pot soup, but the waitress was friendly and, hey, it wasn’t her fault, so it was all right.

During Labour Day weekend, N.O. and I went on a two-day trip to Everett, Washington, and on the second day we stopped by Jimmy John’s before heading out to a baseball game at Everett Memorial Stadium.

Jimmy John’s has a lot of interesting signage. So, I was looking around when we entered. Anyway, I went with the Spicy East Coast Italian on eight-inch bread.

N.O. ordered a different sandwich and with the chip/drink combo.

I would say the service was fast and friendly, and the sandwich and ingredients were fresh.

The chips that N.O. chose – BBQ flavoured chips – were really tasty. All in all, a great visit.

There is one thing that, now that I think about it, I regret not taking a photo of. On the large soda cup, there was a short story written on there, from top to bottom. It was this long rant about how by the time you finish reading the words, your sandwich would already be waiting for you.

There was also some interesting signage in the restroom – but I don’t have a habit of taking pictures in public washrooms, so I didn’t bother there either. But there were pictures of different types of personalities based on how you stood or sat – but I digress.

Over the past year (or since November 2018, when I first downloaded its app), I’ve visited multiple locations of this establishment, including the one at the Vancouver Harbour Centre, the Burnaby Metrotown, and two Richmond locations at Lansdowne Mall and Richmond Centre.

First off, the one at the Metrotown is horrible. Rude staff who don’t even smile at you. One other thing is one time they very stupidly put the single piece of napkin on top of the container and the drink on top of that… meaning that when I was ready to eat the dish, the single piece of napkin they offered was all wet. Geniuses.

Another Metrotown experience was one time they didn’t put in the utensils. Again, geniuses.

On the other hand, the staff at the Harbour Centre are friendlier. Definitely better than the nonsense at the Teppan Kitchen located at the other end of the food court (where the guy was just plain hostile… for no reason at all).

In Richmond, at the busy Richmond Centre, I would say I’m not a fan. They are similar to the Metrotown location in that they don’t know how to smile. For the Lansdowne one, it’s hit and miss… although the last experience I had there has made me hesitant to return. But I digress.

This one here is the Hainanese Chicken Spicy Soup (C$9.95) at the Richmond Centre location. (I mention the location because the prices are different depending on which one you visit.) You get a free drink with every order, although if you wanted, say, iced lemon Coke, you paid an extra 50 cents, and so on.

Although it could potentially be messy eating this, it was spicy and delicious enough for me. I still say, though, customer service in the locations I’ve been to other than the Harbour Centre one, could be better. We’re all humans and we should all treat each other with respect, and for any of those employees to be blatantly giving attitude to customers is just plain wrong.

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About “Let’s Eat Out Every Other Week”

KP Wee, the writer of this food blog, is a published author from Vancouver, Canada. He has written several books, including "Tom Candiotti: A Life of Knuckleballs" and "Fess Up, Jessup!" Check out KP's other food blog at letseatoutonceaweek.wordpress.com. He can be contacted at: kp.wee.is@gmail.com

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TOM CANDIOTTI: A LIFE OF KNUCKLEBALLS (MCFARLAND PUBLISHING)

The End of the Montreal Jinx: Boston’s Short-Lived Glory in the Historic Bruins-Canadiens Rivalry, 1988-1994